Potato-digging machine



(No Model.)

G. WRAGG & J. STROHM.

POTATO DIGGING MACHINE.

N0. 372,006. Patented Oct. 25, 1887.

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UN rTEn STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

GEORGE WRAGG AND JOHN STE-OHM, OF SHARPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

POTATO-DIGGING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,006, dated October 25, 1887.

Application filed March 12, 1887. Serial No. 230,673. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE WRAGG and JOHN STROHM, of Sharpsburg, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Potato-Digging Machines; and we do hereby declare the followingtobea full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part ofthis specificatiomin whichlike letters indicating like parts Figure l is a view in elevation of the principal operative parts of ourimprovement, the handles and frontend of the beam being broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan of the lower shovel and its attachments, showing the manner of connecting it with the diverging branches of the double beam and the arrangement of the oscillating rods. Fig. 3 is a view from the rear and looking under the lower shovel, and showing a portion of the oscillating rods. Fig. 4 shows in two parts an enlarged view of the manner of attaching and seating the oscillating arms or rods and the connection of the tilting arm which operates them. Fig. .5 is a view directly from the front, showing the relative position and shape of the upper and lower shovels. Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrams of the varying positions of the oscillating arms or shaker-rods as operated by the cams.

()ur invention relates to that class ofshovelplows known as potato-diggers, anditconsists in providing a plow with two shovels-an upper and lowera double beam with branches diverging to the outer edges ofthe lower shovel, and two or more sets of oscillating rods operated by means of a wheel and cams in connection with a tilting arm, the whole being arranged to operate so as to plow the potatoes out of the ground and to pass them directly backward over the oscillating arms, by which they are,

shaken free from the dirt, and deposit them upon the surface of the ground.

Referring to the drawings to more accurately describe the construction of our improvement, we make use of a double beam, A, which we prefer should be made of two pieces of steel bolted together, each piece approximately th ree-eighths of an i nch in thickness bytwo and one-fourth inches wide, and about seven feet long. These pieces, being bolted together solidly to form the body of the beam, diverge at a point directly over the middle portion of the lower shovel, as shown in Fig. 1, and a branch comes down to each side of the lower shovel at its rear end, the two branches of the beam then converging under the shovel and being suitably fastened thereto, as shown in dotted outlines in Fig. 2.

The lower shovel,a,is constructed very much like the ordinary shovel in this class of plows,

and is slightly flanged on the edges toward the rear, with rods i running back far enough to guard against any of the potatoes scattering at the sides. It has also a point, a, riveted or bolted at its front end to take the first shock in striking an obstruction, this point being easily removed and replaced in case of accident. The-point of the lower shovel runs in advance of the upper one, I), raising the soil so as to meet it, which thus enables the upper shovel, b, to be always working in loose soil, enabling it to skim off the weeds and potatotops and throwing them to one side. The upper shovel, b, is bolted to a crosspiece connecting the diverging branches of the double beam A, and may be adjusted at the proper height for doing its work.

The idea in having a double beam with diverging branches B is to avoid placing any obstructions to the free passage of the earth and the potatoes, and to allow them to pass smoothly over the face of the lower shovel onto the oscillating rods behind it. It also avoids the gathering of weeds and trash which is so troublesome in the use of a single beam.

In the arrangement and attachment of the oscillating rods 0 their number is not material.

The chief point to be observed is to place them so near together as to prevent the potatoes from slipping between. In my practice I use nine rods, four on each side of a central rigid rod, 0, which does not vibrate, each set of four vibrating independently of the other set. Under andjust at the rear of the lower shovel, and suitably attached to metal fastening which re ceives and secures the ends of the branches B of the beam, is a wheel, (I, with cams don each side, and arranged to rest upon these cams and be operated by them is a tilting arm, f, rigidly connected with frames or clamps 9, Fig. 4, which hold and operate the oscillating IOC rods, as shown in Fig. 4, where the first view is a plan, partly in section, showing how theends of the rods are held firmly in place, and the other view illustrates the construction of the clamp by showing it turned edgewise before the rods are placed in position. These oscillating rods are thus placed in two sets of four each on each side of the central rigid rod, 0', which is directly over the agitating-wheel. This construction is clearly shown at Fig. 3.

On the agitating-wheel d the cams d are arranged so as to alternate the motion of the two sets of arms, so that when one is up the other will be down, and While the digger isin motion the two sets will be alternately playing up and down past the central rigid rod,c, which is bolted fast under the shovel, and is held in place, also, by the metal coupling and fastening of the wheel. The wheeld is made of suitable size, with a broad tread and a thin web, except where the cams are attached. The oscillating arms or rods 0 we prefer to have made of the best spring-steel about five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter and tempered so that they will vibrate freely and withstandspring shaker-rods have been in use, and hence do not claim, broadly, the use of spring'rods for this purpose; but we are not aware that they have ever been arranged in sets in connection with agitating apparatus giving the sets an alternately up and down movement. Our arrangement of the shaking device adds but very little to the draft of the plow, as one set of the rods balances the other.

Having thus described our improvement, we claim herein- 1. In a potatodigger, the combinatiomwith a double bcarin'A, diverging at its rear into branches, of alower shovel, a, an upper shovel, b, therods 0, secured to a frame 'to prevent turning on their own axes, acentral rigid rod,

e, a rigid tilting arm,f, and a wheel provided with cams, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the double beam A, of a lower shovel, a, and an upper or auxiliary shovel, b, substantially-as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of two or more oscillating rods, c,rigidly attached to aframe or clamp, so as to prevent turning on their own axes, and a rigid tilting arm,f, vibrating the said frame by means of its connection with a driving wheel and earns, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

GEORGE WRAGG. JOHN STROHM.

Witnesses:

J. LINCOLN RALPH, D. R. MOINTIRE. 

